Garage sale update!

This weekend, we had a garage sale fundraiser for our adoption. For the last two months, we’ve been asking friends and family to donate things they no longer needed. Friends, neighbors and even strangers filled our garage with clothes, furniture, music, books and all sorts of household goods. We took maybe five minivan loads to my parents’ house and set up the sale.

The sale went really well: over two days, we made more than $1,100! Amazing!! The last time we had a garage sale, I think I made $74.

Asher and Micah had a little lemonade stand and bake sale too. On Friday, the boys sold cookies and lemonade. Micah discovered that most older ladies would not buy a cookie for themselves. He also figured out that if he asked nicely, they would buy a cookie for him to eat! I think he ate at least half a dozen cookies before I figured out his strategy.

And speaking of strategy, Asher had a smart approach to pricing his goodies. When he had a plate full of cookies, they were 3 for $1. When the plate was about half full, the price increased to 2 for $1. When there were only a couple cookies left, they were $1 each. My husband, who is a data analyst, was proud of his solid grasp of supply and demand at a young age!

Raising money for the adoption was awesome, but even better was meeting people. We talked with several different families who have adopted recently. One mommy of twins from Ethiopia found our garage sale ad on Craigslist and showed up with her arms full of things for us to sell. Her daughters were beautiful and they made me more excited about meeting our little girl. We also connected with several other Christians who have a passion for adoption. It was exciting to see how God was providing not only financially, but in so many other ways.

On Saturday, we met a woman from Uganda who was very kind. She works for a Seattle-based medical research organization building a clinic to serve people in Uganda who have cancer caused by infectious diseases. She offered to take us around Kampala when we go to Uganda next year. I have been praying that I would be able to learn about things like food, holiday traditions, hair, beauty and other things that may be significant for our daughter. It was an encouragement to meet a Ugandan woman who is willing to teach me!

I’m sorry we didn’t take pictures. The weekend was really fun, crazy exhausting, and I’m glad it’s done. I’m very thankful for God’s provision, as well as for all the family, friends, neighbors and strangers who made it happen!

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Sara Brinton

sara@defenseofthefatherless.com

SARA BRINTON is a writer and entrepreneur with a passion for reforming international adoption and orphan care. She leads marketing for Noonday Collection, a business that uses fashion to create opportunity in developing countries. Sara and her husband, Mark, live in Austin, Texas with their four children, including daughter Gabrielle who was adopted from Uganda.